A "happy" for me...

I went away for the weekend....It was a big deal, really. It was the first time that I traveled by myself in this country. There was a ladies "retreat" scheduled and somehow I got invited. So, I went. It was wonderful and I'm still processing all that I heard...that for another post.
I left early Friday morning (the kids were asleep) and returned very late Sunday night (the kids were asleep). This is what I came home to. Sweet.






Apparently I really was missed. This last one was the next day...

Anyway...just wanted to let you know that I'll be away from my blog for a few weeks. Sorry...can't be helped. When I get back...I'm sure I'll have more to say than there is time for or you want to hear. Take care.

A nice surprise...

While working on the computer and listening to my husband give piano lessons to the kids...we were interrupted. I think I've said before that we live off a river that runs through our city. At times it is THE MOST beautiful place to be. Standing on the balcony just viewing God's handiwork. Well, tonight we were interrupted by the sound of fireworks. Thinking they were just the firecrackers we here so often, I ignored them and continued on with responding to a few emails. Until I heard the King say, "Kids! Stop everything and come here!" Of course, I got up, too. There were two large boats(yachts) cruising down the river all lit up and the front boat was shooting fireworks for the back boat to enjoy. We've heard about a dinner cruise that is supposed to be fabulous...wonder if this is it. Anyway. I was so absorbed in the sights and watching my kids enjoy it that I forgot to get my camera. As they passed, I grabbed the camera and ran to the back balcony to try to catch a few shots...this is what I got.










...under the bridge...

Strolling down memory lane...

Remember my computer melted down?

Remember that I have a huge file of recovered documents to sort through?

Well, I found these.

I didn't even know they were ON this computer.

Too bad I haven't had it long enough for there to be hidden pictures of the Prince...but these are darling...are they not?

We used to call her "Princess Pucker-Up." Wonder why? ;)







No hair except that SPROUT. Too funny.



This is one of the first pictures that she actually smiled for the camera. She was 3! Little Stinker!

Aw...this is one of my favorites...taken by Dr. Bob...candidly watching her Daddy who was outside. Precious. I told you she adores him!

Side note:
We are a family who uses nicknames alot. For fun, for love, for a joke...for pretty much anything. Lately I've taken to calling the Princess "Punk." The first time her Daddy heard me...he was slightly offended, until she came to my rescue. She knows that pumpkin pie is my favorite (warm, with a little whipped cream on top or ice cream..but I digress). One day I called her "my little pumpkin pie" and after explaining to her that it was my favorite and that SHE was my favorite little girl she took to it...she would always smile when she heard it...well one day it came out as "punkin pie"....which has eventually become "punk." Totally innocent and totally full of love. I don't say punk(!)...I say punk(smile) and it makes all the difference to her.

Thought for the day...

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD,
for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
May your good Spirit
lead me on level ground." Psalm 143:8-10

My online scrapbook...

In the states, I had a huge board like this just inside the back door that a three month calendar on it. A friend (ZW) gave me grief for it, but it helped me keep my family organized. We kept all kinds of information on it like holidays, dr. appt.,etc. This one is not lovely, but it is necessary. We use it for national language lessons, memory verses, wish list items, etc.

The Princess has caught on. When she says she wants something, I send her to write it on the board. After all, when a friend says, "Hey! What can we send to you?" I hate to not have an answer. Because, let's face it, if they are willing to send a package half way around the world and they ask what I want/need...I should be honest, right? Glad you agree. Just so you know...I've already requested these items. I have no idea why she wants lip stickers, but she does. And the Binoculars(don't you love the spelling?)...that's a Bepaw thing. She trusts him to get the right ones...he knows his stuff. :)

Since I'm not scrapbooking over here, these are the things I want to remember when my kids have flown the coup, I mean grown and moved out. :)

Who are you?

If you are my precious "anonymous" commenter (or if there is more than one)...would you please let me know who you are...or at least give me a hint. I'm always blessed by your comments and don't know who to attribute them to.

Thanks ;)

A new thing...

The other night when I couldn't sleep, I did some blog surfing. I ran across a statement that struck me and I have pondered it and decided to steal it. Remember me mentioning a while ago that I have a friend who has a song of the day?...well this relates.

The blog writer said that she loves to worship in song and loves it even more when the words or melody haunt her in that she goes to sleep with them on her lips and wakes to find that they are the subconscious soundtrack to her day (or something like that). I wish I could quote exactly what was said, then I wouldn't feel like I was committing plagiarism.

But the thought that the song or words is a "subconscious soundtrack of my day" had me thinking. What a beautiful, eloquent way to state it. You know the feeling, right? When you were so moved or touched by something that you know the Lord anointed (and maybe He did it just for you...to draw you closer to Him), that it stays with you as that soundtrack...pointing you to Him and his glory. Hmmm. I really like that. I think I'll blog every now and then and just call it my subconscious soundtrack.

Here's today's...

"I have heard so many songs,
listened to a thousand tongues,
but there is one that sounds above them all.
The Father's song,
the Father's love,
You sung it over me
and for eternity it's written on my heart.
Heaven's perfect melody,
the Creator's symphony,
You are singing over me,
the Father's song.
Heaven's perfect mystery,
the King of love has sent for me
and now you're singing over me
the Father's song." (Matt Redman)

I know it may not move you, but I love the image of a parent singing over the precious child they love. What could be more beautiful than the FATHER singing over us? Oh, to hear it! The song of His grace...the song of His love!...The Father's song. The one only He can write...written on our hearts...written in love and grace into the depths of our hearts for all eternity.

So, what's your soundtrack today?

More ponderings...

Most of the time I am not a reflective, deep thinking, analytical person…I’m just WAY too sanguine for that, but I do ponder things at odd moments and when given time. (I always liked the version of the Bible that said "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" [Luke 2 NIV]…just a side note.)

Since this move, I have often wondered if the person that I thought I was, is who I really am. I mean, I’ve come to realize that maybe I think/thought more highly of myself than I ought to have…doesn’t scripture speak against that? :) Or at the very least, I feel that I’ve allowed myself to get caught up in these changes that life has brought and be sidetracked from things that truly matter. Begging the question…what TRULY matters? A small case in point:

At the end of most days I find that I am exhausted. I was/am busy. But when I ponder those things that filled my day…was I busy with the important things or the urgent things? There is a difference to me. Sometimes the things that are urgent (clean that mess, get laundry going, start dinner, etc) are not necessarily most important (listen to my children, love and encourage them, speak words of life to them and anyone in my path). And many times the definitions change. You see, not long ago, I rarely hesitated to sit down in the middle of the kitchen floor with the child that was begging me to read that book to them RIGHT then because I knew the moments were fleeting. Now, I find myself saying, “Let me finish this and then I’ll be right there”…oftentimes never making it because something else urgent came up…stealing the moment from me and making me into a liar to my children. All the while KNOWING the moments are fleeting, but too tired to do much about it at that moment. The person that I thought I was …was a person to savor the moments…a person who would let the dishes sit in the sink because my daughter won’t want to cuddle in my lap much longer…to let something go undone because my 14 year old wants to tell me his favorite joke for the kajillionth(!) time and it makes him giggle every time…and in the not so distant future I’ll be longing to hear that giggle face to face. I never wanted to get to the end of my life and have my children wishing they’d had more time with me. I never wanted my family to feel like cooking the next meal or getting the laundry done was more important than them…even though it was a way to love and nurture them. I don’t know that kids see things that way. Those things must get done, as well as the reading and listening to them talk. The struggle for me has always been in the balance. That pendulum just keeps swinging back and forth…it never stops in the middle.

So, I find myself wondering at different times…have I done my best by my family? Have they seen me love the Lord with an unwavering faithfulness that comes from a heart overflowing with gratitude for what He has done in my life? Or have they seen me following rules and don’t understand why. Have I taught them to live daily for Him, to love Him with everything they have, to have a radical kind of faith? Are they getting the preparation they need to live a life for Him on their own…to live on their own at all? Can they take care of their own needs? Are they willing to SERVE others as an act of worship or are they caught up in themselves? These are the things I ask myself…But truthfully, when I think about it, I wasn’t prepared for the life I would live. I could have been more prepared, but then the journey might not have been as sweet. I might not know the Lord the way I do if I hadn’t had to cling to Him as my sustainer.

Maybe you, like me, want so much for your kids. You want them prepared to handle what life throws at them. You want them to be able to learn from other people’s mistakes in order to sail more smoothly through life. You want a blessed life for them. Right? But who says trials are NOT blessings in disguise? I want them to NEED the Lord…which might mean some intense trials. I want them to WANT the Lord…which might mean they walk some roads that get them to a point of seeing their need like never before. I want them to DESIRE Him above all else…which might mean letting go of everything and everyone that stands in the way. I don’t want earthly blessings for them. I want them to know God and serve him with a passion that is such a blindingly bright light in this world. But the questions remain... Don’t they have to learn some of that from me? …Am I limiting God in this? …Can’t He make them into who He wants them to be IN SPITE of me?

The truth of the matter as I see it, is that my obligation is to serve God fully with all that I am, teaching my children to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” and leave the rest to Him. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, so to speak, because HE CAN. I can’t. There is a reason he says, “Come unto me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt 11).”—the yoke is an oxen’s tool for working hard…but it’s a shared yoke, with the weight falling on shoulders bigger than mine. :)

I know it seems I’m rambling…but this is pondering to me. I always come back to scripture. I still don’t have all the answers to my questions, but I know the One who does. He may not choose to tell me those answers, but He will lead me, if I let Him.

I hesitate to put this on my blog, concerned that those closest to my heart will read into it that I’m struggling on this side of the world…which I do. I struggle. I’m human. But I know the Prince of Peace. But I put it out there to say…this is me. I am still the person I was. I will probably always have questions…that’s just me. But today, I am looking for different things to savor…the things that add flavor to life…the blessings only a Good God gives. So…I’ll listen to the Prince tell me AGAIN about his favorite video game and I’ll do whatever the Princess has on her heart to do…and we’ll wear dirty clothes and eat PB&J for dinner…kidding. (Well, maybe not about PB&J.) But I wanted to challenge myself as well as anyone who takes the time to read this :) to enjoy the blessings. Savor the moments. Watch for the way God blesses and listen when He speaks. What if the small child needing your smile and love today is God speaking into your life? What’s He saying to you? He’s telling me…He’s got it all under control. He doesn’t need my help, He just wants my heart turned toward Him. So be it. :)

Bask in the blessings...

Hmmm.

09-09-09

Just interesting. Don't you think?

I am BY NO MEANS superstitious...but I heard people who are...are doing crazy things today.

Wait! I had an AMAZING day with my language learning....could it be?..............NAH.

Just my big God working in my life. Glad for THAT! :)

DEALB time...

During school we have D.E.A.R. time...which translates into Drop Everything And Read. My daughter LOVES this because I randomly pick the time on Thursdays. It can be in the middle of Math(THAT makes her happy...she is NOT a math person) or Spelling or whatever. She wakes up on Thursday and says "DEAR day!' I love that she's a reader!

Well, when Dad has been gone for even one hour...she misses him. So...the other day...I went to check on her at her desk and she was missing. I called for her and I couldn't hear her answering. I opened the door to my room (you cannot hear what's going outside the room when the AC is on) and there she was cuddled up with her Daddy. When I reminded her she has school work, the two cohorts in crime began to giggle. They have declared it was DEALB time.

"Huh?" was my response.

Drop Everything And Love on Bop (Bop is her new nickname for the King based on the name the nationals call their fathers. It's cute and he LOVES it!) The two had decided to insert a new addition to the class schedule. Random times of DEALB. Not just this day, but EVERY day! OK. I can handle that. :)

For one DEALB time she wanted to make coffee for him. So...we taught her and she did great! Bop declared it the best cup of coffee he'd ever had!

I keep telling him to hold on tight to these moments because they won't last forever. He says, "you never know." I KNOW. This kid is NOT moving back in after college. ;)






By the way, thanks Flea, for the magnets on my fridge!

For my first BFF.

There was a time more than 10 years ago when the Lord had moved us to a location that I was not very comfortable with. I was a small town girl who found herself living in a Metropolitan area with a 17 month old hyperactive son and a husband working very diligently at a new job. I was slowly making friends. But you and I know that friendships take time. We had moved away from dear friends (who are still dear to us today) but I found myself longing for that one friend who would truly understand my heart. I'd had many people come and go in my life who were friends to me, but didn't think as I did or just couldn't "get it" with the things that truly mattered to me. I wanted someone who thought like me. I really didn't think I was asking too much.

During a conversation with my husband in which I poured out my lonely (minus him) heart, he revealed to me that he had been asking the Father to send me that one special friend. Well, that made me love him all the more because he realized that me needing a GIRL friend didn't diminish my need for him. I don't know how long we prayed, but we got more than we bargained for in the answer!

Enter Pandapop and Pandamom (wish I knew how to do one of those link things...) into our lives when the Prince was just a Pup! How could we have known that what began as a meeting with a mutual acquaintance would grow into a deep and abiding love for another couple? God gave us a double portion with them. Not only did PM and I hit it off, but so did the King and PP. They were some of the many who showed support to us during the King's cancer and chemotherapy. I recall a time when they showed up at the front door with a bag of groceries, including toilet paper, because they wanted to support us and do something for us that WE NEEDED. Who doesn't need TP? They also loved our precious son at a time when they were struggling with their own lack of ability to conceive. They put aside those feelings and treasured him as if he were their own. We have walked long roads with them, some in the same town, others across a state or an ocean, but always in the depths of our hearts. We've had struggles they have prayed us through and vice versa. They are, in their very nature, encouragers. The years have blessed us and them with other BFF's, but there's just something special about the first one. We love you guys.

Well, today my BFF turns 40...NOT REALLY, but she does have a birthday. And with this many miles between us the things we would really like to give are not possible (i.e. hugs, TFT face-to-face, etc.). But just a shout out to her smothered in love will have to do. One thing you need to know about PM is that she is absolutely the BEST gift giver I know. She pays attention to the small things you mention in passing that you'd like to have and it comes back to you in an adorably decorated gift basket with a million other things you didn't know you wanted until you got them!

Before we moved across the pond, she gave me what has become one of my most favorite possessions...a scrapbook on a pillow case! Look below: I don't know why some of the pics are sideways...they aren't that way on my computer and I tried to change it, but...anyway.



















This pillow case shows details I know you cannot see...like our kids through the years. Both of our MANY hairstyles. Vacations. Chemo. Garage sales...and the antics that happen with little sleep and too much caffeine! Mutual friends, etc.

I thought this was the most wonderful gift, but not nearly as wonderful as the giver. J, I miss you. I miss my time with you. I miss your voice and YOUR LAUGH! I miss so much about you, but I'm grateful for the seasons (relates to yesterdays posts) we've had and the ones still to come. Maybe one day we'll be actual neighbors. We might be old and gray. You'll be on your porch in the rocking chair and I'll be on mine in the swing and we'll be hollering across our yards to each other. Saying, "Huh? What'd you say?" LOL. Or maybe it won't happen this side of heaven, but we we will be there together!

Happy Birthday, Christina! From your BFF, Coco. Or is it the other way around!? You might have to tell me who you are in a few years...I'm slowly losing brain cells! :)

Encouragement...

I woke up this morning thinking this day will be like the other days...HOT. But as I went to the local market for eggs, I was blessed with a cool, saunty breeze that immediately changed my perspective of all things. You see, if I was inclined, at all, to have a bad day...those inclinations were gone. I have always been one to see the glory of God in nature (I don't want a rock crying out where my voice should be!), but sometimes the consecutive hot days or cold days (depending on the season) slowly steal my joy. Today, I was reminded in that soothing breeze that Fall is on the way. It put a spring in my step and praise in my heart for the One who gave it. I have always loved the changing of the seasons, although I have not always lived in places where the changes were as evident as they are here. While coming home from the market and listening with one ear to my MP3 player and speaking to people I passed with the other(I know...sounds funny), a song on my player spoke right to my heart...and brought about some reminiscing...

**I grew up in a small town where you could see from horizon to horizon and the sunrises and sunsets were/are breathtaking. There's a state park close by and in the summertime while I was in high school, I'd go (sometimes with a friend) to that park and climb the highest "dune" and sit as God revealed his handiwork. Awe inspiring.

**I lived in another small (slightly bigger) town. Standing in front of my house on the sidewalk and looking down the street in the Spring...you would see azalea and Crepe Myrtle trees in every yard of every color as well as huge (old) trees whose limbs were reaching across the road to each other like kids trying to play "London Bridge." A beautiful canopy of green and when Fall came...breathtaking colors.

**I have never lived where there actually is a snow-on-the-ground-for-months-at-a-time Winter, but I have visited such places. The white is so blinding your eyes water even with sunglasses on. But there is something about seeing the "branches crack and in my breath on frosted glass".

**One home we had left the ground covered in leaves every Fall! Some would hate that because it would mean one more thing to clean up and I'm sure sometimes I didn't enjoy it as I should have...but each of those leaves went through a process of change in order to "let go" of the thing that gave them life. And in that letting go...I saw a beautiful thing. A season change.

**Summer. Every where I have lived it has been HOT in the summer (OK...duh, but I mean by comparison...hot). And sometimes those summers lasted longer than I thought was "natural." But every summer had us looking for the signs of Fall, and every Fall was preparation for the Winter, and every Winter made us long for and be grateful for Spring when it came.

Seasons change and I'm always thankful when they do. So it is with life and my spiritual walk...seasons change. The parallel is a beautiful one if you'll look. For me, it is with joy and anticipation that the new season comes, but as it lingers it loses it's luster in my eyes...until the dawning of the new season. Then I am at once filled with a usually overwhelming sense of gratitude that it occurred and I noticed and was part of it. And again, filled with anticipation of the new season...until it lingers a bit too long, then I'm ready for change and find it difficult to be thankful in the daily moments.

The ups and downs are, at times, frustrating. I want to have a thankful and happy heart all the time. But for my intensely sanguine personality, it's challenging to walk the road before me even when it winds and gets bumpy. It's hard to be thankful for the bumpy roads...until it evens out again and is straight before me. Yet...It's those bumpy, winding roads where I learn the most. Learning, for example, to trust that God really does know what He's doing even when my feeble brain cannot make sense of it. Learning to trust. Period. Finding out that I'm not in control(WHAT?!) and must surrender again and again.

So, I've written all of this to show you where my heart is this day and to encourage you if you're on the bumpy, winding road. Every season changes...walk in it....trust in the One who made the seasons and tells them when to change...He knows right where you are...

The words to the aforementioned song:
Every Season by Natalie Grant

Every evening sky, an invitation to trace the patterned stars;
And early in July a celebration for freedom that is ours;
And I notice You in children's games, in those who watch them from the shade;
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder;
You are Summer.

And even when the trees have just surrendered to the harvest time;
Forfeiting their leaves in late September and sending us inside;
Still I notice You when change begins and I am braced for colder winds;
I will offer thanks for what has been and what's to come;
You are Autumn.

And everything in time and under heaven finally falls asleep;
Wrapped in blankets white all creation shivers underneath;
Still I notice You when branches crack and in my breath on frosted glass;
Even now in death You open doors for life to enter;
You are Winter.

And everything that's new has bravely surfaced teaching us to breathe;
What was frozen through is newly purposed turning all things green;
So it is with You and how You make me new with every season's change;
And so it will be as You are recreating me...
Summer, Autumn, Winter...Spring.

Perks to homeschooling...

Although they both have desks and their own room in which to do their schoolwork...sometimes you just need a break from the norm. :)